Man in Oriental Dress, Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, 1635

Rembrandt manipulated light in a highly personal way. Here, the man’s turban and the right side of his face are brilliantly illuminated, while the left side is in shadow. Exotic character heads like this – they are not portraits – were extremely popular in the 17th century; early on, they were widely copied and imitated. They
were known as ‘Turkish tronies’.